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June 28, 2006

R.I. Training School to hold graduation tonight

CRANSTON -- They will don caps and gowns tonight, pose with smiling family members for pictures, and receive diplomas.

But these graduates won't go home after the ceremony. Some won’t go home for years.

The Rhode Island Training School -- a detention facility for convicted criminals between the ages of 13 and 21 -- will hand out diplomas or GEDs to 71 students at 6:30 tonight at a ceremony inside the locked facility’s cafeteria. An outdoor program under a large tent was canceled because of the rain.

“It’s a commencement and a celebration of an academic milestone for these youths that they might otherwise not have achieved if they weren’t here,” said Arlene Chorney, the principal of the facility’s school program, which employs more than 40 teachers and school staff and caps class sizes at 12 students.

“In actually a brief amount of time, by attending school every day -- and school is mandatory here -- they’re able to fill in the gaps in their education,” Chorney said. “It’s amazing how much they’re able to do by simply attending class. And we have just about 100 percent attendance here.”

Many of the students had spotty school attendance records before entering state custody, she said.

Most of the graduates are between 17 and 19 years old, though some are as old as 21.

Chorney said she expects about 150 family and friends to attend tonight’s ceremony.
“It’s a time that their families can come and really be proud of their kids,” she said.

Posted by Steve Peoples at 5:50 PM | Permalink

June 28, 2006

R.I. Training School to hold graduation tonight

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